Category: Academic Life
-
The absolutely last virtual talk of 2021: Paris / Tokyo / Mega-Events
Usually, when I give a talk, I’m sharing work in progress. The conference is, for me, a way to share my ideas, to learn who else is working on similar directions, and hopefully to fill in some of the gaps in my work as I get it ready for writing. This time, however, it was…
-
After the spotlight: Sustainable urban development and geopolitical legacies in former mega-event cities
I submitted my Ambizione project to the Swiss National Science Foundation. Definitely a massive effort! My earlier investigation of submission and acceptance data means that I’m under no illusions about my odds, but I admit that I have hope and am excited about the potential here. Overall, the project is designed to take my existing…
-
Cancel the summer of super-spreader mega-events
This being a personal academic blog, obviously I tend to share more of my successes rather than setbacks or failures. That said, I think it’s important to share some of the more challenging moments too, so that’s what this one will be about. Back in 2015, I was fortunate enough to have a commentary on…
-
Ambizione submission, rejection, and acceptance data: twelve years of great and tough news
I have a year and a half left of funding for my current project, so this means two things: 1) get busy publishing and 2) find a new gig. The Swiss National Science Foundation has a lot of generous offerings, and I’ve got some ideas that I think are important and would like to bring…
-
The give and take of virtual conferences
I finished a month of rather active conference participation, first at the American Association of Geographer’s annual meeting in virtual Seattle, and then the Dislocating Urban Studies workshop in virtual Malmö. I have mixed feelings about our new virtual world. One obvious benefit is the ability to participate in exciting discussions from around the globe,…
-
Translocal teaching and Zoom: perils, problems, and pleasures
I taught a block course over the last week on urban theory. It was all on Zoom, which is hardly surprising anymore. What was new for me was that I was teaching a group of PhD students in Nigeria. I’ve never been to Nigeria, unfortunately, and I’d love to go. Given the state of world…
-
More advising advice: do you need a kind word or a kick in the pants?
I’m not naive enough to pretend there are many readers here, but I’ve been keeping this public notebook of academic musings for awhile now, and every so often I get a letter in response. This one was from a PhD student who read my thoughts last month on mental health and the academy. It got…
-
4 points on the compass: a brief mental health orientation for PhD students (and others!)
Since I won’t be hosting a session on mental health and the academy at this year’s Swiss Geosciences Meeting, I thought I would sketch out here the ideas that I was planning to share. These are 4 basic principles that helped me when I was going through some emotional challenges during my PhD. Some of…
-
Thoughts on how to survive and savor the academic writing process.
I’m writing these notes from a position of unstable privilege. I’m officially a junior lecturer, and I have the luxury of a work contract that gives me several years of predictability. I know how rare that is in the academy and I’m grateful for it. At the same time, this contract will expire in mid/late…